OTTAWA - A far left-wing American lobby group funded by U.S. billionaire George Soros wants you to be scared, very scared. There might soon be more competition in the world of TV news.

A group called Avaaz.org operating out of New York City is warning their supporters that SUN TV News Channel, which has yet to launch, will bring “American-style hate media onto our airwaves.” Odd, I didn’t realize that Manhattan was part of Canada.

Proof that this outfit and campaign is being run out of New York can be seen in the e-mail they are sending to their Canadian supporters and anyone who signs the petition. In the e-mail, Avaaz refers to Sun Media as Suncor.

Suncor of course does not own this newspaper nor are they applying for a TV Licence; they are an oil and gas company based in Calgary.

But obviously this American outfit knows what is best for Canadians.

The deluded people behind this campaign base their assumption on quite a bit of their own hatred and a groundless column from the Globe and Mail’s Lawrence Martin.

In an August 19 column, Martin claimed that if the Canada’s broadcast regulator the CRTC does not grant Sun Media the TV licence they want, that Prime Minister Stephen Harper would replace Konrad von Finckenstein as chair of the CRTC.

None of Martin’s claims are backed up by fact. The prime minister’s communications team deny the story and so too do those who are close to the PM personally. One source said they’ve never heard the PM speak about SUN TV News Channel.

Part of the campaign to stop SUN TV News Channel from launching focuses on the idea that Canadians could be forced to pay for this venture. Author Margaret Atwood took to Twitter to denounce this.

The fact is, SUN TV News Channel has never asked for mandatory fees.

CBC News Network gets about $63 million each year from fees mandated by the CRTC. CTV News Channel gets about $15 million in mandated fees.

What this petition is about is a group of left-wing Americans supporting interests in Canada that don’t want to see competition in news broadcasting.

Avaaz operates out of the New York offices of Res Publica, a collective of left-leaning church groups. In addition to Res Publica, Avaaz is backed by MoveOn.org a lobby group that has taken millions of dollars from currency speculator George Soros.

Unlike the wild speculation about Prime Minister Harper pulling the strings at an arm's-length government body, these details on the politics of the Americans trying to dictate Canadian television are fact.